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35-752: The first rumors of a Lunar Hilton began with an August 1958 event at the Conrad Hilton Hotel in Chicago. The event featured dancers performing a routine entitled "out of this world" and set in a Hilton hotel on the Moon. At the time the Space Race between the United States and the USSR had just begun: the event came less than a year after the launch of Sputnik 1 and predated the creation of NASA . The event led to reports in

70-488: A Moonhattan Tilton, a reference to the Manhattan Hilton hotel, on the Moon. The 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey features a scene in the lounge of a Hilton space hotel and an office marked Hilton Space Station 5 is visible. A "Moon Hilton" is also featured in the 1969 film Moon Zero Two and its adaption into a novel by John Burke . An episode of the 2009 season of Mad Men , set in a 1960s advertising company, shows

105-402: A brochure inviting customers to a trip to the Moon "sometime after 1973". The brochure stated benefits of the trip included "a smogfree atmosphere, no rain or snow, no breath of wind and profound silence". A TIA spokesperson said costs could be up to $ 25,000 per person. The concept was revived in the late 1990s. Hilton commissioned British architect Peter Inston to design a 5,000-room hotel on

140-530: A helipad. It has hosted famous guests such as Tony Blair , Jay Blunk, Frank Sinatra , John Travolta and Hu Jintao . The Hilton Chicago has been featured in many prominent movies and TV shows including: The Hilton Chicago is home to the Normandie Lounge, a promenade that was created from panels and furniture from the famed French Line ocean liner , SS Normandie . In Bernard Malamud 's 1952 novel The Natural , Harriet Bird shoots Roy Hobbs in

175-616: A hotel on the Moon within his lifetime. In the article he described a 100-room hotel below the Moon's surface with an observation dome holding a piano bar from which the Earth could be viewed. On May 2 Barron Hilton spoke at the American Astronomical Society (AAS), telling them "scarcely a day goes by when someone doesn't ask me, jovially, when the Lunar Hilton is going to be opened. They’re joking, of course – but I don’t see it as

210-751: A joke at all". He considered that the structure would be built 20–30 feet (6.1–9.1 m) underground to cope with the widely fluctuating surface temperatures. It would have had three floors; the lowest housing machinery, the middle providing accommodation and the upper public spaces. The accommodation was formed on two 400-foot (120 m) long corridors, connected by air locks, providing access to 100 rooms. The rooms were designed to be similar to those in Hilton Hotels on Earth and were to be "large with carpets, and drapes and plants ... [and] wall-to-wall television for programs from Earth and for views of outer space". There would also be an automated kitchen, powered by

245-704: A new logo design, as part of a rebranding effort for the flagship brand. Today, Hilton Hotels & Resorts is Hilton's flagship brand and one of the largest hotel brands in the world. The brand is targeted at both business and leisure travelers with locations in major city centers, near airports, convention centers, and popular vacation destinations around the world. Hilton Hotels & Resorts participates in Hilton Honors , Hilton's guest-loyalty program established in 1989. Members who book directly through Hilton-owned channels receive exclusive discounts and amenities such as free Wi-Fi, digital check-in, keyless entry, and

280-614: A nuclear reactor, and a cocktail lounge. The hotel would have an automatic leak repair system. During his speech Barron Hilton noted that a feasibility study had been made in conjunction with Donald Wills Douglas Sr. , founder of the Douglas Aircraft Company . This had also considered a hotel orbiting the Earth, the Orbital Hilton, which was thought to be more achievable. This would have had 14 levels and be capable of hosting 24 people for short holidays or stopovers en-route to

315-725: A property in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka , the Hilton Dhaka , designed by Mustapha Khalid Palash . As of 2023, the hotel has yet to open , though Hilton currently has a targeted 2025 opening date. In March 2013, Hilton announced that it would be entering Myanmar for the first time with the construction of a 300-room hotel in Yangon . While the Yangon hotel has yet to materialize, Hilton did manage to open properties in Mandalay and Naypyidaw in

350-563: A revival period in Chicago's South Loop neighborhood. The newly renamed Chicago Hilton and Towers reopened on October 1, 1985. In 1998, under a new initiative by Hilton Hotels Corporation, the Hilton name was placed first in branding, and the Chicago Hilton and Towers became simply "Hilton Chicago". Under general manager John G. Wells, the hotel continues its track record of having hosted every U.S. president since it opened in 1927. In 2012

385-794: A room at the Stevens Hotel. Space Islands Hilton Hotels & Resorts (formerly known as Hilton Hotels ) is a global brand of full-service hotels and resorts and the flagship brand of American multinational hospitality company Hilton . The original company was founded by Conrad Hilton . As of December 30, 2019, 584 Hilton Hotels & Resorts properties with 216,379 rooms in 94 countries and territories are located across six continents. This includes 61 properties that are owned or leased with 219,264 rooms, 272 that are managed with 119,612 rooms, and 251 that are franchised with 77,451 rooms. In 2020, Fortune magazine ranked Hilton Hotels & Resorts at number one on their Fortune List of

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420-509: A single or double room or a "cloud suite". The cards also offered the option of a transfer to the "intergalactic express". The reservation noted that arrival dates must be "after 1980". As well as the cards, mock keys to Lunar Hilton rooms were distributed to Hilton hotels as promotional items, these were traditional keys in a "sleek" style. The Lunar Hilton concept was revived in 1969 as the first Moon landings took place. In 1973 Hilton partnered with Trans International Airlines (TIA) to produce

455-518: Is home to Chicago's largest and most expensive hotel room, which formerly served as the Tower Ballroom. The Conrad Hilton Suite is a 5,000-square-foot (460 m ) suite that encompasses two floors, T3 and T4. The suite costs more than $ 7,000 per night. Refurbished in 2013, the suite includes 16-foot lake view windows, a baby grand piano, a billiard table, three balconies, three bedrooms on the lower level - each with multiple flat screen televisions, and

490-501: The CSS Skywalker , a space station based upon using B330 modules to act as an orbital hotel . Commentators have speculated that the Lunar Hilton concept was just a PR campaign rather than firm plans. Conrad Hilton's grandson Steven M. Hilton said, in 2009, the Lunar Hilton was meant to be symbolic of the company's ambitions rather than a firm plan. Hilton Hotels continues to participate in space projects. In October 2022 it joined

525-478: The 1968 Democratic National Convention , the streets outside the Conrad Hilton Hotel were the scene of a police riot as antiwar demonstrators , being beaten and arrested, began to chant " The whole world is watching ". Some protesters escaped into the hotel, along with tear gas and "stink bombs", and the hotel suffered minor damage as a result of the violence as a couple of street level windows gave way under

560-522: The Convention on International Civil Aviation , also known more popularly as the ‘Chicago Convention’, the defining international agreement which has since permitted the global civil aviation system to develop peacefully and in a manner benefiting all peoples and nations of the world. As World War II drew to a close, Conrad Hilton purchased the hotel from Healy in February 1945. The board of directors changed

595-613: The Starlab Space Station project as official hotel partner. The intent was that Hilton would assist with the design of the crew areas of Starlab. Previously Hilton became the first hotel company to participate in research on the International Space Station when their chocolate chip cookie became the first food to be baked in space. The Lunar Hilton concept has had an influence on popular culture. A 1962 episode of The Jetsons , "The Good Little Scouts", briefly shows

630-547: The largest hotel in the world . The hotel was developed by James W. Stevens, his son Ernest, and their family who ran the Illinois Life Insurance Company and owned the Hotel La Salle; James and Ernest Stevens are the grandfather and father, respectively, of former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens . The Stevens featured 3,000 guest rooms, cost approximately $ 30 million to construct (more than ten times

665-600: The Army Air Force during World War II . The Stevens housed over 10,000 air cadets during this time, who utilized the Grand Ballroom as their mess hall. In January 1944, the War Department closed a deal to sell the property for $ 4.91 million to a bricklayer turned private businessman named Stephen Healy. On December 7, 1944, delegates from 54 nations gathered in the Grand Ballroom of the Stevens Hotel to conclude and sign

700-572: The Conrad Hilton archive at the University of Houston , it was his son Barron Hilton who first acted on the idea of a Lunar Hilton. Barron was a keen aviator with piloting experience in planes, gliders, helicopters and hot air balloons and regularly met with astronauts. By 1967, when he was 39 years old and president of the company, he told the Wall Street Journal that he anticipated opening

735-422: The Moon. The company's president, Peter George, said "One day soon, there will be hotels on the Moon. The Hilton wants to be the first". The company separately became lead sponsor of Space Islands , a planned space station constructed from recycled Space Shuttle fuel tanks and providing a 64-room hotel. Blueprints for the space station were drawn up by Japanese firm Shimzu. Bigelow Aerospace had plans to develop

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770-447: The Moon. Barron Hilton told the AAS "I firmly believe that we are going to have hotels in outer space, perhaps even soon enough for me to officiate at the formal opening of the first". To promote the concept Hilton printed reservation cards for customers and received hundreds of enquiries. The cards featured a depiction of a satellite above the Moon and asked the customer for their preference of

805-604: The Top 100 Companies to Work For in 2020 based on an employee survey of satisfaction. Conrad Hilton founded the Hilton hotel chain in 1919, when he bought his first property, the Mobley Hotel, in Cisco, Texas . The first hotel to feature the Hilton brand was the Dallas Hilton . In late 2010, Hilton announced a name change of the Hilton Hotels brand to Hilton Hotels & Resorts along with

840-498: The ability to use a mobile app to choose specific rooms. In 2015, approximately 20 Hilton Hotels & Resorts properties were inducted into the Historic Hotels of America organization. Among these hotels were Hilton Fort Worth , which hosted John F. Kennedy 's final speech, and Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort , the setting of the film Blue Hawaii . A commercial space station project known as Space Islands

875-540: The character Don Draper creating a campaign for a Hilton hotel on the Moon. Hilton Chicago The Hilton Chicago (also known as Chicago Hilton and Towers ) is a centrally-located luxury hotel in Chicago , Illinois , United States. The hotel is a Chicago landmark that overlooks Grant Park , Lake Michigan , and the Museum Campus . It is the third-largest hotel in Chicago by number of guest rooms; however, it has

910-458: The contemporary press that Hilton Hotels were planning to construct a hotel on the Moon. It is not known if Conrad Hilton seriously adopted the idea but a March 1963 profile of him in Cosmopolitan noted "it won’t be very long before our astronauts land on the Moon and immediately behind them will be Connie Hilton with his plans for his Lunar Hilton Hotel". According to Mark Young, curator of

945-506: The cost of Yankee Stadium only a few years earlier), and boasted of a virtual "City Within a City". The Stevens housed its own bowling alley, barber shop, rooftop miniature golf course (the "High-Ho Club"), movie theater, ice cream shop, and drug store. The first registered guest was Vice President Charles G. Dawes . The Great Depression ruined the Stevens family, and the State of Illinois charged

980-566: The hotel started a $ 150 million renovation, including new dining outlets 720 South Bar & Grill, SNAX and Kitty O'Sheas. The Hilton Chicago was inducted into Historic Hotels of America , the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, in 2015. In March 2020, the hotel closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It reopened again fifteen months later in June 2021. The Hilton Chicago

1015-512: The hotel's owners with financial corruption. They were convicted of embezzlement, but the conviction was reversed unanimously on appeal. Like four out of five American hotels during the Great Depression, the Stevens Hotel went bankrupt. The government took the hotel into receivership, and by the late 1930s, it was valued at only $ 7 million. In 1942, the U.S. Army purchased the Stevens Hotel for $ 6 million for use as barracks and classrooms for

1050-507: The largest total meeting and event space of any hotel in the city. From its opening in 1927 through 2008, every sitting president of the United States had been housed in the hotel before leaving office. The hotel, designed in the Beaux-Arts architecture style, opened on May 2, 1927, as the Stevens Hotel , across Balbo Street from the older Blackstone Hotel . At the time, the Stevens was

1085-517: The name of the hotel, naming it after Conrad Hilton himself on November 19, 1951. Hilton continued to use his Hollywood connections to entice film stars, politicians and royalty to the hotel. Among improvements made to the hotel was the installation of a large ice stage in the Boulevard Room Supper Club which began featuring elaborate ice shows in 1948. In January 1958, Darlene and Jinx the skating chimpanzee performed. The Hilton Center

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1120-735: The north of the country (although the Mandalay Hilton has since closed). In 2018, Hilton announced two hotel projects in Kampala , Uganda : the Kampala Hilton Hotel and the Hilton Garden Inn Kampala . Both projects are still in development. A previous Hilton project in Kampala and announced in 2006 was repurposed into The Pearl of Africa Hotel Kampala , after Hilton exited the venture. In 2017, Hilton announced that it would remain

1155-496: The weight of dozens of protesters being pushed up against them by the police. The Conrad Hilton Hotel was aging and in the 1970s, its demolition was considered. However, in 1984, the hotel closed for over a year for what was then the most expensive hotel renovation ever undertaken, at $ 185 million. The hotel's 3,000 guest rooms were rebuilt into 1,544 larger and more elegant rooms; 600 were converted to double-sized rooms with two adjoining bathrooms. The renovated hotel helped to sustain

1190-639: Was added to the building in 1962, featuring a three-level structure containing expanded exhibit space, the Continental Ballroom and the International Ballroom. In April 1951, crowds gathered in the Great Hall to hear a speech by General Douglas MacArthur defending his conduct of the war in Korea, calling for a new American policy toward the conflict to replace the current "political vacuum". During

1225-704: Was proposed by Hilton International in 1999 to be constructed from used Space Shuttle fuel tanks. When completed, it was to be called the Hilton Orbital Hotel. The tanks were to be connected together to form a ring, resulting in a space station similar to that pictured in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey . Plans were also drawn up for the Lunar Hilton , a 5000-room hotel on the Moon , though Steve Hilton noted in 2009 that both these plans were more symbolic than practical at this stage. In October 2012, Hilton announced

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